Nicholas Allegra, better known as Comex or the hacker who released several versions of the iPhone jailbreaking tool JailbreakMe, is no longer working at Apple.

Comex was quite unexpectedly hired by Apple as an intern approximately a year ago, after being a thorn in the company's side for several years. His tenure with the company has now come to an end for reasons that aren't entirely clear.

Allegra explained the situation in a couple of tweets, claiming he was laid off because he did not reply to an email.

So… no point in delaying.As of last week, after about a year, I'm no longer associated with Apple.— comex (@comex) October 18, 2012

1. Guanajay IRBM Launch Site 1 (Then)

Half a century ago the world came closer than ever to a nuclear war when, during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union came to an harrowing two-week standoff that put the entire world on the brink of Armageddon.

The crisis lasted from October 16, the day after the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center reviewed pictures taken with U-2 spy planes that revealed that the Soviets had been preparing several nuclear launch sites and had been carrying out military operations in Cuba.

With Election Day right around the corner, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and other politicians are blitzing the web and social media with advertisements. But are online ads worth the money for politicians? That's the question raised by a study released this week attempting to show the efficacy of Facebook ads for politicians.

The study's organizers worked with a candidate for state legislature, who bought enough ads that the study claims 15,000 Facebook users in his district saw the ads over the course of a week. The campaign budgeted $150 a day for the Facebook ads. However, Facebook only allowed it to buy $40 worth of advertising each day for the week, or $280, because of "the finite s… Continue reading...

Tandem's members designate a wing man or woman before asking another user -- and his/her plus one -- on a date. The startup's founders believe the double-date setup makes it easier for people to be themselves.

"You bring a friend and they bring a friend," Tandem's founder Will Tungpagasit explains to Mashable. "It establishes a social context that's… Continue reading...

People around the world were thrilled by Felix Baumgartner's space jump this week. We watched in awe as he set a new record for skydiving, launching himself from the stratosphere and landing safely in New Mexico. His actions have already inspired some follow-up, such as the world's shortest freefall. Best of all, his entire sound barrier-breaking journey was well-documented -- everything from his pre-launch preparation to the the footage from his suit was captured on film.

We can't all jump from a hot air balloon above the desert, but we can take a cue from Felix by setting amazing things in motion. That's why for this week's Photo Challenge, we want you to send us an image that repre… Continue reading...

A huge benefit of hiring a personal trainer, fitness coach or clinical nutritionist is knowing they are there to keep you accountable.

By talking about day-to-day progress and goals, clients are more likely to stick to a healthy lifestyle. For those who can't afford a trainer at the gym or a personal fitness coach, a robot named Autom with human-like expressions may be a welcomed alternative.

Autom is a know-it-all robot by Intuitive Automata that helps dieters track weight loss. The company, founded by CEO Cory D. Kidd, specializes in developing social robots for various applications in the health care industry.

A woman who identified herself only as Donna called up a local Fargo radio station to complain about the location of deer crossing signs. Donna the Deer Lady, as she's now known, demanded to know why the Minnesota and North Dakota departments of transportation "allow these deer crossings to be in such high traffic areas."

The video was uploaded to YouTube by the radio station and has gone wildly viral, hitting almost 2.5 million views in only ten days. Even Newt Gingrich chimed in.

A British man hunted down his wife's alleged rapist on Facebook then beat him up before convincing her to report the alleged crime, according to the Telegraph.

The man apparently used Facebook to speak to friends and find 27-year-old grocer Andrew Marsh, who allegedly raped his wife in 2001 when she was a schoolgirl. He then said he was organizing a surprise party for his wife to get in touch, the Telegraph reports, then went to Marsh's home and beat him up.

The alleged victim, whose name has not been revealed, told Maidstone County Court that the husband presented her with a choice after beating up the alleged rapist.

People do weird things to get attention on YouTube. You know, like putting a condom over your head and filling it up with the help of a garden hose until it explodes in an epic splash of latex and water.

Felix Baumgartner's Oct. 14 jump from the middle of the earth's stratosphere, sponsored by Red Bull, made social media and space history. The almost 23-mile free fall jump set records, stunning and amazing people around the world, who reacted on social media.

Analysis company Taykey examined the chatter from the Red Bull sponsored event and found at the peak of conversation about the skydive, approximately 1% of online conversations revolved around the jump -- gaining that much exposure, Taykey said, is "very rare."

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may live in San Francisco, the tech hub where he started Twitter and Square, but he's an avowed St. Louis Cardinals fan. The Cardinals are currently squaring off with the San Francisco Giants for a World Series berth, and Dorsey recently tweeted a pro-Cardinals photo from AT&T Park in S.F.

Cardinals reliever Jason Motte sent some love back Dorsey's way on Wednesday, by tweeting the tech luminary an electronic autograph and voice message via Egraphs.com, a service that lets fans and athletes connect digitally. Motte's tweet is embedded here, and click the link to check out his full autograph and voice message:

You've probably never felt pressure to fill out your About Me section on Facebook - that may change.

Recently some users began noticing a percentage meter that encouraged them to complete their profiles. Filling out their current city, where they work and where they're from yielded a higher percentage. Once at 100% the profile is considered complete.

This is one way to potentially improve ad-targeting options. Added personal data will give advertisers more information to target specific locations, demographics and ages. Earlier this month, Facebook launched a feature akin to Pinterest that … Continue reading...

Will Ferrell is one offbeat dude -- we've known that for some time. But these Swedish television ads for Old Milwaukee beer only burnish his bizarre legend. Funny Or Die shared the ad embedded above on Facebook on Thursday, writing: "Sweden's twitter account just posted this Will Ferrell spot that's only airing on Swedish television. It's the best." The bootlegged ad footage, and three others like it that are embedded below, was uploaded to YouTube in late September but is just now getting widespread attention since Funny Or Die's social share.

In the ad above, Ferrell plays the role of arrogant American and makes a fart joke. In another, he rides in circles on a bike as weird music… Continue reading...

British soccer star Ashley Cole was fined £90,000 -- or, for American readers, $145,000 -- by the sport's governing body in England on Thursday for an obscene Twitter post he directed at the organization last week.

Cole (pictured at right) plays left-back for England's national team and the powerhouse English Premier League club Chelsea. His Chelsea teammate John Terry was recently dealt a four-match suspension for racial abuse against an opposing player. The Football Association's Independent Regulatory Commission questioned Cole about the incident during its investigation, then cast doubt on the credibility of his testimony when it released a report on what it had found.

A new video game will let you be president for the day and wage war as you see fit.

"Tell Me How It Ends," created by The Truman National Security Project and being released Friday, puts players in the commander-in-chief's seat and gives them the option to launch bombs against Iran.

The game will provide intelligence reports and briefs, just like the president of the United States receives. The creators hope that the game will increase the public's knowledge on national security issues and the difficulty in making war-related decisions.

1. Gmail and iOS Don't Get Along

It probably goes without saying that Google's services tend to function better on Android devices -- Gmail can get more than a little screwy on iOS and other smartphone software. Many users dislike the Gmail mobile app for iOS, since it doesn't have everything necessary to replace the native mail app. For example, in regular mail, users can't edit specific Gmail settings such as labels or vacation auto responses, forcing them to switch to the web version for access.

For a free service, Google Apps is not too shabby. You can create, edit and share documents with Drive, handle all correspondences in Mail, organize your day-to-day affairs with Calendar, find novels and articles with Books, and a lot more.

Even though Google Apps is a decent free alternative to software such as Microsoft Office, there are few things that the company could improve (or work with others to improve), such as space limits, lack of cohesiveness between apps and other small difficulties, in order to provide a better user experience.

Nikon CoolPix S800c Android-Powered Camera

The Nikon S800c is the world's first camera to run Android the same way it works on a smartphone. The $349.95 point-and-shoot can download and run apps such as Instagram and Google+, using the 10x optical zoom lens to capture photos smartphones can't.

Microsoft announced its quarterly results on Thursday: $16.01 billion in revenue, with $5.31 billion of that profit. That's down from the company's reported $7.2 billion in profit at the same time last year.

By division, Windows reported $3.24 billion in revenue, down 33 percent from last year. Business and Entertainment and Devices were also both down in revenue from this time last year, with the Server and Tools and Online Services divisions being the only two departments to show an increase in year-over-year revenue with eight and nine percent increases, respectively.

The smaller numbers may be due in part to the fact many of Microsoft's flagship products have yet to launc… Continue reading...

In our fast-paced world, sometimes there just isn't enough time to pick up toothpaste, razors or soap between work, school and social events.

Here's where snail mail can actually save you time and help you catch up with your growing to-do list. Online subscription services are available for you to order beauty products, toiletries, organic snacks and even premium dried cooking ingredients. Items you regularly use can be scheduled to arrive promptly at your door every month, just as your last batch of supplies run out.

It appears that Gilt Groupe is look to sell Jetsetter, a flash sales site for high-end vacation packages.

A source close to the situation tells Mashable that Gilt is seeking between $30 million to $50 million for the site -- a hefty asking price, perhaps, given that the site isn't profitable. Its founder and chief executive, Drew Patterson, stepped down in May.

The move comes amid expectations that Gilt will file for an initial public offering next year. The company started as a flash sales site for womenswear and has since expanded to several other categories, including full-price menswear and food. It was rumored in January that Gilt was significantly scaling back on those… Continue reading...

Only two of America's political parties are represented in this year's "official" presidential debates: the Democratic and Republican parties. That leaves the dozens of alternative candidates out of the show.

What's a third-party candidate to do for some debate time? Hop on a Google Hangout.

The Independent Voter Network, an online alternative news outlet geared towards voters of all political persuasions, is hosting the first-ever entirely online presidential debate. During the event, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson will square off against Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein.

"We're trying to get these candidates more out in the open and trying to give them a forum to spea… Continue reading...

Becoming a parent changes everything -- this group of manly men singing mermaid Ariel's famous ballad is all the proof you need.

Cops, firefighters, construction workers, barbers and Marines belt out every word to "Part of Your World" from the Disney classic The Little Mermaid -- all at their daughters' request. Produced by Tom Riles and Patrick Quinn, the video was originally posted on Life of Dad, a social networking site for fathers.

Ever wish Facebook was called something else? Or beg and plea that everyone used the British spelling of the word color (colour)? Maybe you just hate the word hula-hoop and never want to see it again.

Then it seems the latest Google Chrome extension is about to made your life a little better. "In My Words" is the browser extension that will let you substitute words you hate for words you'd rather see on your screen.

Email may seem old-school when compared to this year's digital election forerunners of Twitter and Facebook. But nonetheless, the inbox has still proved a crucial tool for this year's presidential candidates, especially when it comes to crowdsourcing campaign funds.

But inboxes, and their users alike, have grown accustomed to receiving a political pleas via email, making it that much harder for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to slide by spam filters and reach their constituency.

Email analysts Return Path dived into the data surrounding each candidate's message to see if what they send is actually being read.

The data center in Lenoir, N.C. got the Street View treatment, causing sharp-eyed Googlers to flex their eyeball muscles in hopes of spotting visual treats sprinkled around the facility. We've collected eight so far -- everything from an imprisoned Android robot to a snackurglar -- and assembled them in the gallery above.

Have you spotted any other Easter eggs? Tell us in the comments and we'll add them to the gallery.

Until recently, only the most hardcore NBA fans knew the name Jeremy Evans. That all changed Thursday morning, however, when a YouTube clip of the Utah Jazz forward's ridiculous block-and-dunk sequence went viral on the Interwebs. Evans' name became a worldwide Twitter trend, and many, many jokes were made at the expense of Ronny Turiaf, the opponent on the receiving end of the back-to-back highlights.

Evans uses his spring-loaded legs to jump about 12 feet in the air and swat the 6-foot-9 Turiaf's jumper, then bounds down the court, grabs the loose ball and dunks right on the hustling-but-hapless Turiaf's head.

Harthorne is the founder and CEO of MassChallenge, a startup accelerator and competition designed to foster a startup renaissance by connecting high-impact startups from around the world with the resources they need to launch and succeed.

Harthorne received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2007. While at school, John received grand prize in the 2007 MIT $100K Business Plan Competition and received the 2007 Patrick J. McGovern Award for impact on quality and visibility of entrepreneurship at MIT. He also led the 10th annual MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW) in Trondheim, Norway.

In September 2011, the Boston Business Journal identified Harthorne as one… Continue reading...